Rhetoric in the Modern Era Series Statement

Book Title

Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

For each of us, Perelman has been a central figure, hovering steadily over
our scholarly work, our excursions into rhetorical theory and rhetorical
criticism. We hope that this short book helps others also see the inspirational
importance of his achievement. ...

Chapter 1: Perelman’s Life and Influence

Chaim Perelman was born May 20, 1912, in Warsaw, Poland, the son
of Abraham and Lea (Garbownik) Perelman.1 His father was a diamond
merchant who moved his family to Antwerp, Belgium, in
1925, where the young immigrant entered the secondary school system. ...

Chapter 2: Philosophical Foundations

Every theory of rhetoric rests upon preconceptions about human behavior.
Classical doctrines, markedly influenced by Aristotle, envisaged
humans as rational beings, albeit with strong, sometimes decisive
emotional proclivities; rhetoric itself was conceived to be an amoral art that
could be used for good or ill, depending upon the motives of the persuader. ...

Chapter 3: A Theory of the Rhetorical Audience

Like all rhetorical theorists, from Gorgias on, Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca believe that audience is at the very center of matters rhetorical
“since argumentation aims at securing the adherence of those to
whom it is addressed, it is, in its entirety, relative to the audience to be influenced”
(19). ...

Chapter 4: Arguing Quasi-Logically

Now that we have scrutinized the philosophical underpinnings of
Perelman’s rhetorical thought and have analyzed the concept of
rhetorical audience lying at its core, we are ready to examine the
typology of argumentation set forth in The New Rhetoric. After discussing
facts, truths, presumptions, and other “starting points” ...

Chapter 5: Arguing from the Structure of Reality

Unlike quasi-logical arguments, which try to counterfeit logical or
mathematical structures, a second kind of associative technique relies
upon the audience’s conception of reality in order “to establish
a solidarity between accepted judgments and others which one wishes to
promote” (The New Rhetoric 261). ...

Chapter 6: Arguments That Establish the Structure of Reality

In the last two chapters we have considered two species of arguments that
derive their plausibility from resemblances they bear to logical or mathematical
forms, or to the fact that their conclusions flow inexorably
from a notion of reality that is already embedded in the minds of the audience. ...

Chapter 7: Rhetoric as a Technique and a Mode of Truth

Henry Johnstone and Chaim Perelman were friends, but their
friendship did not prevent Johnstone from criticizing Perelman’s
work, sometimes severely. Central to Johnstone’s concerns was an
issue that has dogged rhetoric since its beginnings in ancient Greece: Is it a
technique, or is it a mode of truth? ...

Chapter 8: Arrangement as Persuasion

Although each of the five faculties that comprise ancient rhetoric—invention, arrangement, style, delivery, and memory—must have a purpose in persuasion, it is by no means clear, with
any faculty but invention, how that persuasive purpose is realized. Arrangement
is a case in point. ...

Chapter 9: The Figures as Argument

The conviction of Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca that style plays a
supporting rather than a leading role in argument leads to their decision
to treat the figures,1 not in one place, but only as they become a
factor in particular arguments. While correct conceptually, this decision is
indefensible as an expository strategy ...

Chapter 10: Presence as Synergy

We end this book with a chapter on presence, a fitting conclusion,
we think, since presence in its most interesting form is not the
isolated effect of the elements of arrangement, style, and invention,
but the cumulative effect of interactions among these. This form of
presence has as its object not the alteration or reinforcement of isolated attitudes
or beliefs, ...

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